The human voice is your most flexible and powerful communication tool. With it, you can profoundly persuade and influence others. Let’s look at how it works:
You must produce enough vocal energy to “reach out” to audiences. Breath control is necessary to accomplish this vocal projection (i.e., the sound reaching listeners). Articulation and adequate pronunciation, of course, are necessary to produce meaning.
You also have to be proficient at delivering the operative words of a phrase, so that comprehension and meaning occur. The components of vocal delivery—inflection, dynamics, melody, duration, color—help you here. For instance, if you were left standing in the rain outside a cinema for an entire hour, you might say the following to your friend who finally showed up: “What are you talking about? I said to meet me here at eight o’clock, not nine o’clock.” – You’d probably emphasize the words “talking,” “eight” and “nine” to convey your meaning (and your irritation).
On a more sophisticated level, your voice needs resonance and authority if you expect to influence people. Melody is the use of pitch change and coloration to create meaning and emphasis (Ramczyk 2002). It also helps audiences stay awake and interested. Similarly, your pace and tempo should vary according to the changing ideas and emotions in your material. And pauses and silence are essential, both to let listeners relax and to make them aware of your critical points.
Finally, your influence exists because of the emotional connection you establish with your listeners. There’s no question that you must do that vocally. And each time you move to a new idea or topic, audience members need to hear that you’re doing so, so they can pay closer attention. The marvelous human voice allows you to accomplish the magic described above!
We’ll help transform your ability to reach and persuade the audiences that matter.